Long Gone Day
by lakergirl4life
Summary: Alternate Ending to Paige visiting Mike in the hospital in Smoke Alarm. Fluff.


**A/N:** Post-Head of the Pig fluff...and uhhh the possibility of...yeah, I still need fluff. Meant to post this last night but I got distracted overanalyzing everything.

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Mike opened his eyes slowly, looking around the hospital room confused, blinking at the harsh lights. The last thing he remembered was asking an agent to read him his rights after Jangles stabbed him, in hopes of keeping his cover with Bello. He must've passed out sometime after that. Because he didn't remember going to the hospital. The good news was that he didn't bleed out on Bello's floor. The bad news was he didn't catch Jangles.

"There's those blue eyes," Paige tearfully whispered as he focused his gaze on her.

His stomach was throbbing from the pain, despite the painkillers he knew he was doped up on, but he couldn't stop the smile from forming on his face when he saw Paige. "Hey." He must've been hurt pretty badly if she was this concerned.

"Do you want me to get a doctor?"

"No, I'm good." As cliche as it sounded, she was here and that was all he needed.

"You scared me," Paige murmured as she ran her fingers through his hair.

"If all I needed to do to get your attention was get stabbed, I would've gotten stabbed earlier." The moment he said it, he wished he could take it back. If nothing else, he could blame it on the drugs. It wasn't a secret that he felt _more_ for her. Hell, he'd fallen for her the moment he saw her. Paige knew it. The whole house knew it. But he never mentioned it. Paige never did even though their roommates did.

It was a delicate dance they did. Ignoring their mutual attraction, but not doing anything to discourage it, while trying to keep the potential awkwardness of it all out of their friendship. He was more than interested in her, but Paige held back. He wasn't sure what she wanted. Although he knew what he wanted. He wanted to date her. Be with her. But even though she liked him, her feelings were closed off. He wasn't sure if it was because of Graceland. If she didn't want a relationship with anyone. Or if she didn't want a relationship with him.

"You've always had my attention. I just - I don't know," Paige quietly said, continuing to run her fingers through his hair.

Did she have any idea how crazy she was driving him right now? All she was doing was running her fingers through his hair. Comforting him like a child. But it was strangely intimate. It made him feel things he probably shouldn't be feeling for a _friend_. But Paige was more than a friend. And the way she was looking at him right now, made him wonder if she felt the same. Maybe, just maybe. "Paige..." he breathed her name slowly, wondering if he'd ever get a chance to say her name like _that_ with her breathless beneath him.

Paige leaned forward, stopping right before her lips met his. "Don't think. I need you to stop thinking. Stop overthinking. Just..." Paige cupped his face with her hand, gently running her thumb along his jaw.

This moment.

He had been envisioning this moment since the second he first laid eyes on her. But he never pictured it like this. Him stabbed and doped up on painkillers, too weak to pull her closer. But here they were. Her eyes locked on his. Her breath warm against his skin.

Paige literally took his breath away the first time he saw her. And here she was leaning over him. Her eyes were shimmering with tears. Her makeup smudged. Her blonde hair in a messy braid. And she had never looked more beautiful.

He licked his lips in anticipation. Hoping. Waiting. It seemed like he was always waiting on Paige. Waiting to see if she felt something more for him. If she was willing to act on that something more. Because as much as he wanted her and wanted to make a move, he was afraid to jeopardize their friendship unless they were on the same page. He didn't want to overthink things, but maybe him getting hurt pushed Paige to make a move. Maybe all the excuses they told themselves didn't matter anymore.

It felt like he was dreaming. Paige was close enough to touch, but he was so doped up on painkillers he could barely move. He could smell hints of vanilla from her perfume.

Paige was close enough to kiss, but just barely out of reach. The sweetest kind of torture.

After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably only a matter of seconds, Paige pressed her lips to his. She kissed him softly and sweetly, but soon her tongue was sweeping over his. He groaned slightly as she deepened their kiss. He was oblivious to everything but Paige and despite the pain that shot to his stomach, he sat up a little, resting his hand on her face, not content to just lie there during their first kiss. His hospital room was far from being romantic, but it did nothing subdue the feelings he poured into that kiss, trying to tell her all the things he'd wanted to tell her since the moment they met, but hadn't. Because he was too nervous. Too afraid to scare her away. But Paige made the first move, now all bets were off. He didn't know what this meant, but he was pretty sure he could kiss her forever and it wouldn't be enough.

Paige suddenly pulled away and his eyes shot open, looking up at her confused. As his breathing evened out, his eyes darted around the room, looking for an intruder and once they settled on hers, he followed her gaze to his monitors, which were beeping more than they had been when he woke up.

Paige laughed softly and gestured towards his monitors, "We should probably cool it before I kicked out of here." Reaching for his hand, she intertwined their fingers.

"You don't have to stay." The moment the words left his mouth, he was mentally kicking himself. What kind of idiot asked the woman he'd had a crush on since the moment he saw her to leave after she finally kissed him?

"Do you want me to go? Because I can call Johnny. He'll be here in a heartbeat. He sent you that bear."

"Can we forget I said that? I can blame that on the painkillers, right?"

Laughing, Paige nodded. "Just this once. Get some rest. Okay?"

Not wanting to admit how good the idea of sleep sounded, he shook his head, not wanting to miss out on an opportunity to spend time with Paige. "I'm okay."

"You got eleven stitches and lost a lot blood. You've been out for over twelve hours. Get some rest. I'll be here when you wake up."

Lifting their joined hands, she gently kissed his. Her tender smile assured him that she would be here when he awoke, but still he resisted, not really believing that he wasn't dreaming.

"You are so stubborn."

"You're one to talk."

"You don't expect me to sing you to sleep or anything, do you?"

"Are you threatening me? I'm laid up in a hospital bed and you're threatening me?"

Paige laughed, "Maybe. I'll make you a deal, you go to sleep and when you get out of here we can go to karaoke night at - "

"Are you trying to get me to stay awake?"

Paige swatted his arm and she quickly apologized once he grimaced. "Okay, you go to sleep and when you get home I'll give you a sponge bath."

"You know, now that you mention it, I could use some sleep. You have a deal."

Paige rolled her eyes, "So predictable."

"Hey, a deal's a deal."

"Don't worry, I'll pay up, but first you have to go to sleep."

Mike reluctantly closed his eyes, the promise of a sponge bath from Paige enticing him to go to sleep when all he wanted to do was talk to her. Figure out what was going on between them. If that kiss meant as much to her as it did to him. But she hadn't run so far, he was taking that as a good sign. Before he had a chance to overthink things _more _and blow things before they even began, he drifted off to sleep, the activity of the past day seeming like a distant memory while thoughts of Paige filled his dreams.

THE END


End file.
